The Versailles palace was once a SMALL hunting lodge when Louis XIV was a boy. Now it is a massive blockbuster place with lavish gardens and guilded Chateau's. I read somewhere The House of Versailles is best seen on a bike as the grounds and garden are perhaps the most impressive as they were created by manual labour by orders of the Sun King. There is bike tour that initiates from Paris then a 45 min train ride to the town of Versailles. I got brownie points from Gary as he loves cycling and I love to try the croissants fit for a King's appetite ;)
Our guide for today is Costas. An inspiring film industry expat from New Zealand living in Paris with his French girlfriend . . He does bike tours around Paris to supplement income as it is difficult to find english speaking employment. We soon found out Costas should really be a comedian as he had us in stitches right from the first pedal.
There is no way to see the grounds on Versailles on foot with 2000 acres (20,000 acres before the revolution) to cover and we only saw a little more than the average tourist even with a vehicle. 80% of the tourist only see 10% of Versailles. Travel guru Rick Steeves devout a whole chapter on this place but don't worry I won't.
Once we arrived at the train station, Costas guided us straight to the local market to purchase wine and food (good guy I like him) for our picnic on the Versailles grounds. Here he gives us tips on what's good and where the best selection can be found.
There was a big line up at the bakery Costas told us about, looks yummy huh? All those petit pastries can make me sleepy on a cold day. Hey, French people are a laid back group, when in France do as little as the French does.
Gary is attentatively listening to the history lesson and all I want to do is sneak a little bite of goodies I'm carrying in my rucksack when no one's watching. Unfortunately , I got busted both me and my bike fell over made a big bag now I have to ride in the front so teacher will be keeping an eye on things :(
After ten minutes of riding, we turned the corner and walla, the most beautiful tree lined boulevard I've ever seen. Good old Louis sure know how to pick them. He didn't bother with nurseries, why would a King have to wait for even a tree to grow in his palace? Louis summoned his gardeners to find already matured trees and bring them back to Versailles from all over France just Marie couldn't see what he's up to from her side of the palace. In fact, he planted hundreds of thousands of them. Now that's a guy with a green foot!
Marie-Antoinette was a young Austrian Princess when she married Louis. She hated the main palace where the king lived & played so she wanted to live on her own somewhere away from the nosy and often disapproving courtors. Louis happlily agreed and built her an entire village where she could play dress up. Marie's fantasy world is named the Hamlet. Together with a moat around the houses, hand picked villagers and different farm animals she could have days of fun with.
Whatda u looking at buddy? I'm from a long chain of royalty boars there's no beef here!
Gary always nags me about not having more picnics, well he got what he wanted. We are finally sipping French wine, he's having a bagette w cheese n meat and I'm having marinated octopus and olives. Oh, I forgot I'm not in Greece. Oh well food is food. Yes those are thunder clouds u see behind us. My Prince opens an umbrella just in case his bagette sandwich won't get soggy. He's such a hopeless romantic!
( now u know why I'm having something waterproof for lunch)
After our cold picnic, we are back to where it's crowded, loud and very gold - the palace tour. There's probably no need to insert a lot of photos here. Imagine being in the movie set of Goldfinger. It's just, well, very gold and lots more gold.
Then there are the mirrors- as in an entire wing of it. Someone should really calculate the foot candles in this room. I'm seeing double of myself and that's not necessary a good thing. Ive only captured the upper walls and ceiling to save u from seeing the mobs of tourist below. Very scary site indeed.
the marble work is really quite stunning but no one seems to be interested in that.
I took a breather from all the goldness and looked outside. The garden is immaculately maintained and everything is done in the traditional French style. Geometric Shapes, balance, symmetry, and lots of fountains. Such order in the design. Hope the gardener is not a tall guy or he would have a very sore back.
Bloody hell there's even more gold outside!!!!
It's no wonder the people revolted against the tax imposed on them thus the Revolution. How much can one give in order to supplement the over the top life style of this couple?
The restoration kinda ground to a halt since the economic downturn and there is a section at the right side of the palace that's still in darkness. Louis would have a temper tandrom fit if he knew what happened to his show piece palace hundred of years later.
After Goldfinger palace, I decided to have simple peasant food for dinner - cuisses de grenouilles to finish a very enjoyable bike tour and exhausting day in Versailles .
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